Tag Archives: heat pumps

Heat pumps offer a more energy-efficient way to keep your Portland home warm when it’s cold out. If you have this type of heating system, it’s important to keep the following information in mind.

Heat Pumps Are Programmable

You can make your heat pump even more energy-efficient by using it with a programmable thermostat. This type of thermostat makes it easy for you to adjust the temperature inside your home on a regular basis. All you need to do is program the thermostat to increase or decrease by a few degrees at certain times in order to save energy. For example, you can have your programmable thermostat drop a few degrees at night while you’re asleep or during the day when you’re at work. Your heating system won’t run as often during these times, which reduces energy usage, utility bills and wear and tear on your heating system.

Heat Pumps Need Regular Maintenance

Heat pumps are much more efficient than gas furnaces, but they need routine maintenance in order to stay this way. Regular maintenance helps catch potential problems early and ensures that your heat pump is in good condition for the heating season.

Heat Pumps Have a Defrost Cycle

If you notice what looks like smoke coming from your outdoor heating unit, don’t panic. Heat pumps often produce steam when they go into defrost mode during winter. When the defrost cycle is on, the auxiliary heat inside your home might come on to ensure that your home stays warm.

Heat Pumps Cool Homes

Heat pumps aren’t just for heating homes. They also keep them cool during summer. Your heat pump provides your home with comfort all year long, whether it’s hot or cold out. Keep in mind that this means your heat pump will also need routine maintenance during the summer months. This helps it stay efficient when it’s cooling your home.

If your heat pump needs service or repairs this season, contact Roth Heating & Cooling. We provide prompt, reliable HVAC services for customers in and around the Portland area.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Metro Portland, Oregon area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).

Do you have problems with your heat pump freezing up in cold weather? While the presence of a light layer of ice on the unit during our cold Portland winter weather is fairly normal, heat pumps do sometimes freeze up. Typically, the periodic defrost cycle keeps the unit sufficiently ice-free to maintain proper functioning. Nevertheless, when the unit freezes for an extended period of time, the freezing issue should be addressed. Be sure to turn your thermostat to the emergency heat position and use an alternative heat source to avoid running the unit while it’s frozen. It won’t do you any good anyway, until it’s fixed. Continue reading →

Heat pumps are marvelous home-comfort systems that, at the touch of a button, the flip of a switch or with programmable thermostat settings, shift between heating, cooling and defrost cycles. This ensures that your comfort and energy bills groove with outside temperatures no matter the daily or seasonal weather changes. Learn the basics of heat pump cycles to maximize system performance, comfort, and energy savings all year long. Continue reading →

When it comes to choosing an energy-efficient heating and cooling solution for your Portland-area home, a heat pump might be your best option. The more you know about heat-pump efficiency ratings, the better decision you can make on what heat pump will work best for your needs.Continue reading →

Just like any other piece of heating and cooling equipment, heat pumps need regular tune-ups to operate well. That’s why every season, heat pump maintenance should be your number one concern. And here’s why. Continue reading →

Whether you’re building a new house or have an existing home that you’d like to renovate, the design of your heating and cooling system should be a priority. Setting and meeting duct design objectives isn’t glamorous, but they can have a long-term impact on your family’s comfort. If your home project doesn’t have a clear plan for handling duct design, it’s time to put one in place. Continue reading →

Heat pumps offer homeowners a practical and efficient way to heat and cool their homes. Air-source heat pumps obtain efficiencies of about 300 percent (and more with advanced features), while geothermal heat pumps reach upwards of 600 percent efficiency, since they extract and release heat from a source with consistent temperatures (the Earth). Continue reading →

Heat pumps are an affordable, energy-efficient way to heat and cool a home. But as with any system, they have unique features that must be understood in order to maximize energy savings. Heat-pump thermostats, for example, operate differently than their traditional forced-air counterparts. Knowing this will ensure that your system runs smoothly, without sacrificing your family’s comfort or increasing your next utility bill. Continue reading →

Proper preventive maintenance is vital to keep your heat pump in tip-top shape. Frequent monitoring and cleaning of your system will ensure a long and efficient life. There are some tasks that homeowners can handle on their own, while others should be left to a qualified professional. Continue reading →